In the decades after 1850, the name Pinkerton inspired fear in America's most hardened criminals. Pinkerton detectives solved crimes and trapped lawbreakers with astounding consistency. The most feared and respected of them all was Allan Pinkerton, founder of the celebrated detective agency. In his hands, crime detection became an art and a science.

As a young man Pinkerton fled his native Scotland to avoid political persecution, since he cherished the ideals of liberty and justice. An ardent Abolitionist, he helped hundreds of Negroes escape through the Underground Railway. His career as a detective began almost by accident. While working as a barrel-maker near Chicago, he exposed a ring of counterfeiters, and soon was hired as a special investigator by the Chicago police. Pinkerton's high standards and sound methods of police work produced such amazing results that the railroad companies asked him to set up his own detective agency.

His fame as a master sleuth spread throughout the country. In tracking criminals, he used psychological tricks, disguises, logical education, and trained his agents to infiltrate outlaw bands. How he broke up the notorious Reno Gang of a hundred men, how he exposed the tough Molly Maguire organization, how he pursued the elusive Jesse James over half a continent make exciting reading.

In 1860 he uncovered a plot to assassinate Lincoln, and his swift action saved the president's life. Early in the Civil War Pinkerton was an intelligence officer, making daring trips through the South as a spy. Then at Lincoln's request he established the United States Secret Service Bureau, from which he directed all espionage and intelligence work for the North.

From these stirring exploits emerge the portrait of a man who served the cause of justice with rare dignity and high principle throughout an illustrious career.

From the book